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How it started
History
Although 1876 was the ‘official’ opening year of the Oriental Hotel, the origin of the ‘Oriental’ side of the Mandarin Oriental can be traced back as early as 1863, when two Americans, Captain Atkins Dyer, and William West, opened the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand): however, the original building burnt down only two years later, on 11 June 1865.
However, the history of the ‘Mandarin’ side of the group is comparatively recent: the Mandarin hotel opened only in 1963 in the Central District of Hong Kong Island. In 1973, The Excelsior Hotel, which closed in 2019, opened in Causeway Bay.
In 1974, Mandarin International Hotels Limited was formed as a hotel management company to expand into Asia. That year, the company acquired a 49% interest in the Oriental Hotel, resulting in two "flagship" hotels.
In 1985, the company combined the two hotels under a common name, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. In 1987, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was floated on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong under the name of "Mandarin Oriental International Limited." Mandarin Oriental International Limited, is incorporated in Bermuda, and listed in London, Singapore and Bermuda. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Limited, which operates from Hong Kong, manages the activities of the group's hotels.
Jardine Matheson acquired full control of the business in 2026.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2